Day 1: Friendly neighbourhood rabbit. I have been giving some serious thought about when to start this adventure? While out in the backyard after getting home this afternoon here comes this rabbit. He's just sitting there looking at me and not moving. (Rabbit's do that!) I thought to myself, "I guess today is the day!" Grabbed my camera out of the car(it's always with me) and took a shot of the little guy. So the neighbourhood rabbit is #1. If he is around in one year I think I'll make #365 also!

Day 2: BABY MOOSE Today I experienced something that others only dream of. I got to see, touch, and watch my boys feed a baby Moose. He was adorable and not unlike any other baby, except he could drink a gallon of milk in about three minutes. He wanted to play and "moose" around just like a big puppy. Hard to believe within the next six months he will be the size of an average horse! I have a number of pictures but I was asked to not post them all over the net, so I won't. I'll certainly be brining prints to my next photo club meeting. I was just like a little kid when we left there... Actually, I think this feeling will be there for a while! (Sorry I had to change this one as I am now "hot-linking" the photos from my website instead of uploading them here and the original pic is on the boys PC)

Day 3: Bald Eagle It looks like I've got a "wildlife" theme going here? I guess it kind of goes with the season. Trust me when it's -30 outside the only wildlife I'll be taking pictures of will be my fish, the dog, or more than likely, the kids! I was driving back from Kurt's sports banquet in Dryden this morning (MVP jr. basketball YAY!) I spotted this guy in a tree. I kind of had to over process a bit as it was a really crappy rainy day, and he wouldn't let me get any closer to him. Still a beautiful bird!

Day 4: Lensbaby Macro What I was hoping to do today was take my camera and only one lens and go out shooting. The lens I chose for the day was my Lensbaby Composer and the Macro kit. I haven't been using this as much as I'd like to because of all the "lovely" weather we've had this year! The lens is all manual so it takes a bit of time and thinking to set up. I really like it and can't wait to get out to the lake more and spend some serious time with it. Today just seemed to fly by and before I knew it it was late in the afternoon and it started raining...AGAIN! Stacie and Zane went out to pick up the last of her flowers for the gardens. Procrastination in buying flowers is a great thing! By the time she got out to get the last of them, the decisions are easy as there are fewer to choose from and they're all on sale! (I'll probably get it for that comment) So.. I picked out a flower to shoot, set everything up with two flashes... and this is the result!

Day 5: In memory of Grandpa Jack! Today I got a call that informed us that Grandpa Jack had passed away. Grandpa Jack was very special to me for a number of reasons. I lost one Grandfather before I was born, and the other when I was very young. When my Dad remarried, Grandpa Jack came into our lives. It's one of those package deals, and we got a sweet deal with this one! I never really got to know him that well, until my Dad passed away. That's when Jack and I started to become friends. It didn't take long to see why my Dad loved him so much, and would do anything for him. I went to visit Jack in the hospital once and the nurse asked who I was? I told her, "I was his step-grandson!" After she left the room he told me to introduce myself as his friend because he was WAY to young to have a grandson my age. By the numbers, it would work, but not by his zest for life. He was right and I'll refer to him as Jack from here on. Jack was a special man. He reminded me so much of my uncles on my Dad's side in the way he looked, talked, and his personality. He was just a likable guy that made me laugh and always put me in a good mood. He was always happy to see me, as was I, to see him. I will miss him dearly! Jack's favorite thing was his boat and Lake of The Woods. Although this is not a picture I took today, I am posting this picture today as a tribute to him. I'm sure this is what he saw on many occasions as he cruised out on the lake, a lot of times by himself! Till we meet again, my friend, until we meet again... Jack's favorite thing was his boat and Lake of The Woods. I am posting this picture today as a tribute to him. I'm sure this is what he saw on many occasions as he cruised out on the lake, a lot of times by himself! Till we meet again, my friend, until we meet again!

Day 6: Yes you can hit the side of a Barn. Last night I decided to take the day off and just go for a drive out of the city to try and process the sad news we got yesterday. I ended up leaving a lot later than I had planned to, but I still got out. There were three things I wanted to capture, and I got two of them. I did manage to get three things, but one was thrown in at the last minute as it was on the news. Out of everything I shot today I liked this one the best. Funny thing is, It was the first photo I took. I probably looked a little goofy framing the shot with my hands, but it did help me make the final decision of what I wanted to capture. It's plain, simple, colourful... I like it! I hope you do too...

Day 7: Head in the clouds This morning I had a dentist appointment to fix one of my front teeth that had a chip from the weekend. Still not sure how it happened, but it did and it is fixed. I hate having the front of my mouth frozen! I feels like your lower lip is as big as "Bubba's" from Forest Gump and it drives me nuts. This afternoon I took the trailer and picked up a yard of nice top soil. The front lawn is looking much better than last year, but not as perfect as I'd like it. I figured I'd add seed and some fresh soil and see what happens. I picked this shot for today because I felt like I had my head in the clouds all day. I got out at the garden centre and the sky was starting to fill with big, fluffy clouds(cumulus). I looked for one that I liked and took a picture of it! We are now off to the MTS Centre to see ZZ Top. I would have posted a photo from there, but I'm not allowed to bring my camera in...

Day 8: Busy Bee's Had a really good day! I got up before 6am, ground some fresh beans and made some awesome coffee. After that I made Stacie and myself some good old oatmeal and topped it with a banana, and split a whole grain artesian roll. Toasted of course! When my coffee was done I headed outside to water all the plants, flowers, and vegetables. Did a little more yard work then came back inside. Worked on the computer for a couple hours and got ready to head out. Packed a small lunch and took it with me so I could pick up Stacie at lunchtime, which I did! We went over to Assinboine Park and had a nice outdoor lunch. Teachers are a little stressed this time of year, and if you are one or are married to one like me, you know what I'm talking about!?! So over the years I've learned to do what I can, to help relieve the stress. Most times it's fairly simple... Keep my mouth shut and listen to the venting, and it's all fine. Other times a lunch out, maybe a trip to the bookstore, or as in todays case, coffee, breakfast, get her out of the school for lunch, and let her know I'm good with whatever she wants to do tonight. Don't misunderstand, I enjoyed every minute of today! After lunch I stopped of at the legislative grounds, to check out the big fountain. As I sat on one of the benches taking in the beautiful 27 deg day, there was some buzzing around my head. It was a bunch of bees in the flowers behind me. So today, for me and them, was busy! Busy bees...

Day 9: Jamie's Day! Today I went to the funeral of a childhood friend, well let's say, "He was a cousin that wasn't really a cousin". Our Dad's were best friends since childhood as were my Grandparents, and his Grandparents. I Haven't seen Jamie in years... many years! I remember Jamie as a happy kid, fairly quiet, funny, and everybody liked him, including me. We lost track many years ago. When I became a teenager I was very independent and did my own thing so when Jamie came down with his Dad, I was usually out with my friends doing stuff I probably shouldn't have been doing, so I didn't get to see Jamie that much. I'm pretty sure his Dad was more than okay with that.(refer to last sentence) Some time later in life Jamie was diagnosed with MS. This is a part of Jamie's life that I knew nothing about... Until today. The funeral home was FULL! I sat there as people described Jamie's life and who he was, and most importantly, how he handled his disease. I was very sad to hear all of this and not for the reasons I thought. (his disease) I was sad because listening to these people talk about Jamie, his life, his disease, I learned that I totally missed the life of a wonderful person. He took everything that was thrown at him, including Multiple Sclerosis and stayed strong, happy, funny, and everybody liked him! Just like the kid I remember! The photo today is for Jamie. From what I learned about him today I get the impression he was very colourful...

Day 10: Graduation Day is Soon! Still trying to grasp that our little girls graduation dinner and prom night is FOUR days away! The official Graduation day is the 28th. Still seems way to soon! Tonight Stacie was putting the finishing touches on Zoya's grad dress. They have been working on it for a while now and the masterpiece is almost complete! It is absolutely stunning and truly accents the beauty of the special girl who will be wearing it! When the time comes, there will be plenty of pictures of it, for all to see. Todays photo is an abstract of some of the sequins being added, taken with my Lensbaby Composer. I took a few more but they show a lot of the dress and showing off the dress before the big day? We only have a poodle so that doghouse is way too small for me to be in...

Day 11: Manitoba Marathon Scout-out! Once again I am one of the official photographers for the Manitoba Marathon. It is held every year on Fathers day and it's pretty much where I've spent Fathers day for many years now. It will be different this year though! Nobody in our family is participating. :'( Ever since we moved here the kids have always been in the 4.2 km "Super Run". The two oldest stopped that a couple of years ago, but Kurtis still ran. He's a competitor so his goal, as with everything, was to do better than the year before, and beat everyone he knew. This year he was thinking of doing his first half-marathon. He ran a few 7 km+ plus cross-country runs earlier in the year and was thinking it was time to try it. He recently got word that his Mom's aunt and uncles 50th wedding anniversary was the same weekend so Kurtis is attending that. Apparently 50th anniversary's don't happen that often? *

Day 12: Fathers Day and the Manitoba Marathon Today started early for me. Up at 5 am, good breakfast, double check on equipment, and out the door. I really enjoyed the morning. I was doing something I love to do, and watching people do something they love to do. It's funny how from one year to the next I seem to forget how this day effects the 13,000+ that run this marathon. There are people who are gifted runners who absolutely love it and make it seem easy. Others who also run but you can see the struggle in their face and it is far from easy. There are others still, that you can see are not everyday runners and it looks like they really hurt with every step. The one thing they all share... The determination and the drive to never give up, and do what ever it takes to finish! It was truly an amazing thing to see, hear, and feel. I felt a sense of inspiration like no other today. I hope this feeling lasts and I can use it for personal motivation! Happy Fathers Day to all the Fathers out there. As with almost everyday that ends in Y, I was thinking of my Dad. I sure miss him! My thoughts are with others like myself who's Fathers are no longer with us. Especially the recent ones! Todays photo is from the Marathon. The person in the photo is Bill Younger and he is a true inspiration for me to get motivated! He started running marathons in his early 40's and participates in many each year. He is 59 and still going strong. Congratulations to Bill, Connie, and ALL the other runners today. You should be proud...

Day 13: My New Fishing Hat The other day Stacie wanted to go to Polo Park to do some shopping for Zoya's upcoming grad dinner. For her it's a really big deal. Not the dinner, of course that's a big deal, but what she is going to wear. This has been going on for weeks. Now for me it's quite simple. The big decision will be... What suit am I going to wear, and what shirt and tie will I pick to go with it? I figure it will take me a minute or two to decide. Opps, almost forgot. Shoes? Let me see, these black ones, those black ones, or the other black ones. I pick other! I didn't really want to go to the mall, but I did want to spend some time together, so I went. When we made our way over there, big surprise? The place was a zoo, and the parking lots were stuffed. Stacie told me I could just drop her off and find a spot to park and meet her inside. I replied, "I could drop you off and go over to Cabela's and the Wholesale Sports Outdoor Outfitters." Her answer was, "sure." Worked out great. I got to spend a couple of hours in a couple of my favorite stores and so did she. After which we went for dinner and still got out "together" time! Todays photo is one of the two things I picked up that day. One was a new rain suit, cause it looks like it will be one of those summers. The other was my new lucky fishing hat! It's new but it looks a little old the way the peak has those little tears on each side. Boys are done school this week and I hope to be out on the lake this weekend with them to see just how lucky my new fishin hat really is...

Day 14: The Big Day Today was the day that's been the buzz around our house for quite some time now. Today was Zoya's graduation day. It was a busy day for her and she was up early and out of the house shortly after. Lots to do... hair, nails, makeup, and of course the DRESS! After I did everything I had to do today, I went over to her friends house to take some photos of the ten of them before the Limo arrived. That went quite well... Now the running around! Run over and pick up my assistant, Zane, and head down to The Forks for location number one. I was able to catch them coming around the walkway as they came in. Went down to the river and took a bunch of shots there. Then we went over to the skatepark close to there and I went up on the parkade roof top and shot some of them down below. Then I went down to the skatepark and took some more at a couple of locations in the park itself. Load up and race over to the legislature grounds to get some shots in front of the fountain. Then back to the main building to get some shots on the stairs with me down below shooting up. All and all it was a good shoot and I have a LOT of pictures to process. I have to pick them up from Safe-Grad at 4 am, I should be done by then? I hope I get to sleep in tomorrow! Todays photo is of the fountain at the Legislature building. You may find this hard to believe, but not even 20 minutes before I took this picture there was at least 100 people all over the fountain! And then there were none...

Day 15: The Assistant Gets in the Photo I started processing as soon as I got home last night and I still have a few to go. Sleep and life gets in the way, imagine? When I came to this photo I laughed so hard I almost fell out of my chair. We were looking for something to add a little humour to the shot and I believe we nailed it! To add to it all, Zane looks more like a little mountain boy than a photographers assistant. Todays photo is actually from yesterday, but it is just to funny not to post here. I did get out to shoot this afternoon, but I like this one the best...

Day 16: The Flying Angel This afternoon was the J.H. Bruns Graduating class Car Parade. I set up our Canon G9 on the tripod so I could capture a video of all the vehicles going by. I was sitting with my other camera, Canon 50D with the 70-200 mm 2.8L IS on it (double Canon plug) so I could take some photos for Zoya. It was Angel and I waiting for them to come along. She was enjoying the day wandering around the front yard, jumping, bouncing, and rolling around. I wasn't paying attention to her and she wandered over to the neighbours. Phil has a Blue healer named Cody that stays in the house most of the day. He LOVES Angel! He will sit on the other side of the fence and literally cry until she goes over there. I figured he was watching her out the front window, and that's how I know he likes her because he never barks at her for being there. Unless there is another dog around! Todays photo is what happens to Angel when she is playing in Cody's yard and the dog from across the street comes out and thinks he is going to play with Angel. If you have ever heard a Blue Healer bark, you know they have a distinct, deep, and LOUD bark. Scared the crap out of Angel and she came running back to me. Since I had camera in hand I captured the Flying Angel...

Day 17: Insomnia Whenever it is time to go pick up Kurtis and Jarod I can never sleep the night before. This time two nights before, also. I get quite excited that they are coming here and find it impossible to close my eyes. Considering they are here mostly every second weekend, that is a lot of lost sleep. This will be their first summer visit of the year. They will be staying for 11 days, going home for 6 days, taking Zane with them. Then they will be back here for a while, then back home, then back here... Todays photo was taken around 3:00 am this morning. The International Space Station is making many passes over Canada in the next little while and since I was up already? This was the second pass of the night. I tried to capture the first one at 1:25 am, but being out in the dark I accidentally switched the dial on my camera to aperture priority and ended up with a big white photo with some nice trees on the one side. This one is not that great either, actually quite crappy, but that's what you get at three in the morning trying to take a picture of something that is approximately 400 km above us. Can't wait to get out camping and those beautiful DARK skies of the country...

Day 18: Crazy Fox Zane and I got up early and headed to Dryden to pick up Kurtis & Jarod. We made really good time in our travels stopping once at Clearwater Bay for a fuel top up and one more because Zane wasn't going to make it all the way. That stop was on the east end of Vermillion Bay at the little pull out with the scenic view overlooking Eagle Lake and a restroom. The real reason for the stop! As we drove in there was this very skinny fox wandering around looking in everything for food. He did not look well! Todays photo is of that skinny little animal. I tried something new to me with the settings and added flash in the daytime to try and get his eyes to pop. When I got back to the city and uploaded the photos I was almost shocked at how well it worked on it's eyes. That tongue off to the side makes me laugh! You can see it was trying to figure out if it should run, or try getting fat from eating me? Luckily I was a little more than it could chew...

Day 19: Honey, There's a Bird in the Gazebo Jarod and I were outside doing some landscaping touchups most of the afternoon. After we were done and inside the house Stacie was looking out our bedroom window to check out the work. She called out to me, "Honey, there's a bird in the gazebo." I looked out and said, "Actually... There's TWO!" Jarod is the animal kid in our house. I guess I should clarify... We all like animals, but ALL animals like Jarod. There's just something about him the animals are comfortable with. I called downstairs to the "Wii" room,(the room formerly know as the rec-room) to get J to come out with me to let them out. We went to the gazebo and sat I down at the table and Jarod gently tried to persuade the little guy and gal to leave. They tried but were having trouble and were mostly just flying around and hanging off the screen. Jarod took his sweater in one hand and used it to catch them with his other hand. First he caught the male, took it over to the door and as soon as he opened his hand, it was gone. Todays photo is of Jarod and the female bird. He gently caught her the same way as the male, but when he went to release her... She just stayed in his hand. He took her and walked over to the chair across from me and sat down. She was quite content to just stand in his hand and pose while I took pictures of them together. He took her back over to the door and she still wasn't going away. He told her, "Time to go little birdie." He gave his hand a little shake and away she went...

Day 20: The Happy Sad Day Today was a great day... Today was Zoya's Graduation day! I was really nice to see all of the 175 graduates in their blue and gold caps and gowns. The day started off with a laugh from the boys. You see Zoya was accepted to University a while back. This morning after Zoya left they were in her room with a measuring tape seeing if it was big enough to turn into a pool room after she moved out. They just assumed that she was going to university in the fall, so she would be leaving to go away to school. They were all excited that the room is large enough to fit a 4 x 8 table, with room to play. I laughed when they told me this, and let them know that they better start saving their money... and they had at least five years to save for it. Somewhat confused by the "five years" I told them that Zoya was accepted to the University of Manitoba and she would be living here while she worked toward her degree. All I got was an "OH"! Todays photo is of Zoya on her special day. I was fine all day watching the grads and especially her, getting their diplomas. Processing photos tonight was a little emotional. Who am I kidding, it was a lot emotional! Tomorrow I will let the boys know that I really hope Zoya is in no hurry to move anywhere. I will be quite happy if we go to her university convocation in 5 years and we all leave together from OUR house...

Day 21: Honour Roll It would seem that I forgot to save my post last night? While we were at Zoya's Grad two days ago there was a message left on the answering machine saying that Zane was winning an award at the ceremony the following day.(today) I talked to Stacie and we figured it was either for Jazz Guitar or Electronics as he excelled in both. We didn't say anything to Zane about him getting an award and he was not impressed that we had to go sit through a ceremony for the second day in a row. He was complaining to his step-brothers about it and when I told them to get ready to go, to me also. I just told him it was an awards ceremony and Mom said we have to go, so we were going! We all sat there as they went through the awards for each grade. When they finished grade 10 and didn't call his name for anything, I was confused? Todays photo is of Zane's honour roll certificate. Zane is 16 and for the past three months he has been walking around in a fog. The only things that seem to matter were his text messages from girls, and the emails from them on his iPod touch. Let's just say there was a lot of, "huh" and "what" going on. Zane is a smart kid and made the honour roll all through grade school. Obviously, these smarts came from his Mother! Last year, his first year in high school, was the first time he didn't make it. We just figured, "Well, it was a good run." With the way he has been acting lately I'm not sure who was surprised more, him or us? He may have just squeaked in with exactly an 80% average, but he pulled it off! Congratulations Zane! You deserve it...

Day 22: Fun Mountain? The boys have been waiting patiently for the annual end of school Fun Mountain Day and today was the day... Well today was supposed to be the day, Fun Mountain was closed! They took it pretty well actually. They know me, we'll just go another day. After watching them mope around the house for a while I called them into my office. I had the Grand Prix Racing site up. Going karting can get expensive! You go for a few runs, catch that adrenaline rush and end up staying way to long. So... today I had a new plan! We would look at the website, decide what and how many rides we would go on before we even left. Make a deal with them and go. Todays photo is of the boys on the bumper boats at Grand Prix. Once we got there I purchased the tickets we agreed on and off we went. There are lots of things to do there so they started re-planning. We have these many tickets and if we do this one less time, we can do this also. Whatever you want guys! You see the one thing I didn't tell them was I was just going to watch them have fun, take some pictures and videos. The secret is... If the guy that has the money doesn't get his adrenaline going, they get all my tickets so they can ride more and I don't get in trouble for blowing a couple hundred $$$...

Day 23: Happy Canada Day! I tried to do this last night but Smugmug was doing maintenance. That is where my main site of my pictures are and I hot-link them here. I already have unlimited storage there and by linking the pictures to here it doesn't use up space on the Blog and keeps it free. Free is good! We had a good day yesterday! It was cooking hot outside so we packed up a cooler of food and drinks and took the boys to the beach. With three active teenage boys you don't go anywhere without a box of food!!! I picked up two new to me books from one of the photo club members so I was being a geek and reading the first one. The Hot Shoe Diaries by Joe McNally. Not to be confused with The Red Shoe Diaries, this is a photo book about flash photography! The boys had a blast! It had the two things needed for them to have a fun on a hot summer day. Water and something to jump off into the water. Todays photo is from last night. It was Canada Day so that meant there was, of course, fireworks! We went down to The Forks around 10 pm to pick our spot across the river from where the fireworks are set off. They weren't as good as some years. There seemed to be a lot of long gaps between the shows, but the finally was spectacular! Last year I did something different and used trees as a foreground for the shots. I really liked some of them so I did the same this year...

Day 24: Crazy Humidity Hmm... Seems I lost a day somehow? It was INSANELY hot and humid today! Temperatures reached 30C and the humidex was over 40. So pretty much anything you did outside required lots of water and a clean shirt quite often. The photo for today is from the only comfortable place to be, beside the lake! But really, the only place that was truly comfortable was in the lake...

Day 25: First Saturday Morning Farmer's Market Stacie, Jarod, and myself went to our first Farmer's Market of the season. This was an exciting morning! They always have the coolest stuff there. It's fun to look over all the different types of crafts that people are selling. Everything from wood carvings, wood furniture all the way to jewelry. We usually walk around and check out all the stuff, then look at all the food. Of course there are vegetables, fruit, breads, jams, honey, and all kinds of goodies. My most favorite thing of all... The spring rolls! Totally deep fried, and sooo not good for you, but they sure taste good. The photo for today is of something I've never seen there before? Prairie Wildlife Rehabilitation are rehabilitation specialists for wild animals and they had two birds there. One was a Peregrine Falcon that was already put away and the other was this guy, a Great Horned Owl. It was still very hot and humid out today, but this guy seemed to be doing good for quite a while. Just before I was about to take this shot, he started panting just like a dog would, only he looked a little different...

Day 26: Bonfire and Dinner on a Stick Today was kind of a relaxing day. Stacie went to bed last night not feeling that well, and woke up this morning feeling even worse. I call it PSS! That stands for Post Stress Sickness. Last few weeks of school can be very stressful for Teachers. (students too) You go-go-go and try to get everything done so you can actually take some time and not think about "that" place for a while. So weeks of giver everyday... and then stop, relax, and unwind. This is when almost everybody will get sick. Including me! The symptoms are usually the same too, headache, sore throat, chest congestion, mild fever, and no energy! Sound familiar to you? The photo I picked for today is of Zane using a blade of grass as a noise maker. We had dinner outside tonight. There was left over chile so I decided to cut up some fresh vegetables, use the last of Stacie's bean salad, and have a fire in the backyard. We cooked Top Dogs over the open fire, had chile-dogs with vegetables, bean salad, and a side of chips. Camping meal in the city. Tomorrow, Grand Beach! Hmm, I wonder if now is a good time to tell Zane the grass they were picking is pretty much exactly where the dog takes a leak every morning. HA! Not true Zane, I would have told you before you picked it...

Day 27: Grand Beach & Toy Story 3 Today was another b-e-a-utiful day! Stacie is still not feeling well and the best thing I could do for her is make sure she had everything she needed, and let her have the house to herself. We got out of bed fairly early this morning, especially Jarod. He was up, showered, and eating breakfast before anyone else was even up! The boys and I packed up a cooler with food and beverages, grabbed our lake towels and went to Grand Beach for the day. What a great day to get out, relax, do a little swimming, and lay on the beach reading a good book. The photo for today is from Grand Beach and it's of the three boys coming in from swimming. We came back into the city for dinner and Zane had to go to Drivers Ed. As soon as Zane got home, Kurtis, Jarod, Zane and I went to Toy Story 3. It was absolutely hilarious and I'm pretty sure I enjoyed it more than they did? While watching TS3 this evening it sure brought back a lot of memories. The original Toy Story came out in 1995, the same year Kurtis was born. He remembers watching it, but what he doesn't remember is that it was his absolute favorite movie and we watched it often. It was already a few years old when he was really into it. I remember sitting with him on my knee or right beside me and he would go through words and the songs. He really loved that movie and Woody, of course he had his own Woody action figure! I sat beside him tonight during the movie and there certainly is a big difference now. Fifteen years old and over six feet tall. Time sure flies...

Day 28: Boys gone for a week :( Today the boys went home for a week and took Zane with them. They have a fun filled week ahead of them, so that is cool! I on the other hand, am going for knee surgery tomorrow morning. As much as I'm looking forward to having two properly functioning knees that don't hurt, lock up, slip out of joint 10 times a day, I am not looking forward to the recovery time. Even though... if you use them for any length of time you get really "buff" triceps, I HATE CRUTCHES!!! I'm not sure if I'll be posting tomorrow I may have to skip a day? I'll be sure to put up a nice swollen knee photo the next day though! The photo for today is from our trip back from Kenora. Stacie and I stopped at Lyon's Lake just west of the MB/ON border. It was a beautiful evening and we sat on the dock looking across the little lake. Even though there was traffic going by on the North end of the lake, it was still peaceful. Hope the knee works well soon because I can't wait to get the boat out again on a real lake...

Day 33: Jonathan's Day Today was the first day I really went anywhere. Crutched out to the van and Stacie drove us to the parade route. I though about going down to city hall for the morning festivities, but I knew I wouldn't last. Same goes for the party at the Dakota Community Club, now named the "Jonathan Toews Community Club. I remember the amount of people that showed up in Dryden when Pronger brought the cup there, so being in Winnipeg and people actually like Toews, there's no way me, my gimpy knee, and my two walking sticks were going anywhere near there! Hey... I got to see Jonathan and if I was paying attention and not taking pictures, I could have touched the cup again! It was great to see the thousands of fans lining the streets for this guy. He deserves it! The photo for today is from the parade. I was able to hobble out onto the street and get a few good shots of the superstar. That's right, Me... a diehard Red Wings fan, acknowledges a "Hawks" Player as a SUPERSTAR...

Day 34 & 35: A New 1.4x Teleconverter Yesterday I was sick in bed most of the day. It was one of those days where you just feel like you're going to vomit if you move too much, or even at all! Today was much better. I sold my super wide lens a little while ago because I wasn't using it much and I really wanted a 1.4x teleconverter. So sell one thing that I'm not using and buy one that I really want and will use often. To use a teleconverter and for it to work really well, you need a good camera and an excellent lens for it to go on. I have both! :) The photo for today is of one of our tomato plants through my new teleconverter. Considering it is taken at 280 mm it is quite sharp. I expect to use this a lot and from my experience, the more you practice, the better it gets. I think this is a great starting point...

Day 39: Pan-am pool & Bon Jovi I was going through the posts and noticed that the only one not to get his photo on here, by himself, is Kurtis. Probably because he doesn't sit still long enough to have his photo taken! That's Kurtis, muscular toned, very low body fat %, very active, and an eating machine! We had a good day yesterday. I took the boys to the Pan-Am and headed downtown to try and catch some lightening. I was successful in a few but soon discovered that it was a little more difficult to catch lightening in the daytime than at night. I'll work on that a bit more! After that I went back to the pool and to the observation deck to see if I could get some pics of the boys jumping off the 5 metre platform. I managed to get quite a few actually. Then it was home for dinner and Stacie and I were off to the Kid Rock/Bon Jovi concert. I must say it was way better than I was expecting even if Jon-Bon looked wired on something for pain the whole time. That happens when you tear a calf muscle less than a week before the concert here. They played a mix of music with all the old hits. He really knows how to get a crowd going! I really liked Kid Rock also. Got the crowd going, played a great mix of music, and showed how talented he really is by not just playing every instrument, but playing them WELL! The photo for today is of Kurtis jumping off the 5 metre platform at the Pan-Am just being himself...

Day 40 & 41: Basketball shoe shopping Well... We spent a lot of the last two days shopping for the perfect pair of Basketball shoes for Kurtis. He really knew what he wanted and they were actually easy to find, just not in his size! I could have sat in my office and called all the places to see if they had the shoe he wanted in his size and just went there and picked them up. But you know what, we had a blast driving all over the city looking for them. I'm am not sure who has the most bruises from all the "punch-buggies" we saw. I'm pretty sure it was me, and Jarod was winning because he never missed one and my leg was literally throbbing from all the boney little fist punches to it. Then I decided I had enough of getting beat on. I managed to get Kurtis and Jarod, (Zane was at work) into a deep conversation that I can't even remember what it was about, as I drove to the nearest VW dealership. We were by it the other day and I noticed that all the Beetle's they had were in the third row back from the street so you couldn't see them as you drove up. My plan worked perfectly! Just as we drove by I spotted a blue one, green one, grey one, red one and two black ones. I must admit Jarod is pretty fast. I got him on the first four, but he nailed me on the two black ones! Those damn boney little fists hurt! Kurt was in the back seat and missed them all, but he was the first to figure out that I was keeping them talking and purposely drove by the dealership. The whole thing may sound a little sadistic, but it was a great bonding time and other than some bruises on my leg, we had fun and did manage to get Kurt's basketball shoes. Not exactly the one he was looking for, but even better and they fit his foot like a glove. As soon a he put them on I looked at them and said, "those look like they were made for you foot." He told me that that is exactly how they feel! The photo for today is from this evening. we continued with our bonding time, Zane included, by shooting some "hoops" and me grabbing some pictures of them. I took a bunch with them in the picture but for the post I decided I liked this one. I hope you do too...

Day 47: To The Dump Stacie and I stopped at the Dryden Dump on our way into town today. After dropping off a couple of bags we decided to go see the bears. There were quite a few bears around but the one thing I noticed was there were no cats around. The place is usually crawling with cats! The photo for today is what I think might be the reason there are no cats out in the open. There were THREE of these guys on top of a hill just waiting for? Looking at the talons on that thing, I'd say the cat population at the Dryden Dump is getting thin...

Day 48: Leave it to Beaver Kurtis, Zane, and myself were out cruising the lake looking for Loons when we came across a Beaver taking some food back to its house. He did the tail smack and dive to warn others of the danger and to get away two times. After that she would just sink in the water and always come up back at her food. I guess she wanted to get away when we got too close, but we were no longer a threat. Hence the no tail slap...

Day 49: The Morning Swim Here we have Brad Davis, Jarod Burnell, Kyle Davis, Zane Zinkiewicz & Kurtis Burnell all standing on the dock at Pritchad lake. Pretty much the only photo taken where they are standing still...

Day 50: Tornado Warning in a Camper Trailer We had the pleasure of being inside a camper about 30 ft from the lake during a tornado warning in NW Ontario! It actually turned out to be a great night, but I still didn't sleep! We were watching a movie when the storm first started to come up and shut it, and all the lights, off to watch Mother Nature's movie. No tornados that night, but we were treated to one of the best lightening shows I've seen in years....

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